Tre gets his brown belt

Tre joined karate when he turned 4 and worked all the way through the "little gator" belts (white, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and camouflage). Then he was old enough for "official" belts and worked his way through white, yellow, orange, green, and purple. On Saturday he tested for brown. It's his last test before his black belt test. He was super nervous about this test because it required him to spar for 4 minutes straight with a new black belt each minute. I know that doesn't sound long, but it was and he was exhausted. Sensai warned me that moms normally have a hard time watching and usually leave in tears. He wasn't wrong. I cried when I saw my baby sparring and crying his way through it. It exhausted him. When the minutes were over, he thought he was done but then Sensai wanted him to kick the black belt in the head (there were pads). At that point he was too tired to get his foot that high so it took him about 45 more seconds to do it. By the time it was done he was emotional and his face was flushed with exhaustion. I have never been more proud of him. It was a challenging test and our boy stayed on his feet and he never quit. I love this kid. He has a lot to be proud of.